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Kooyeen Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Any dictionary - Exception to the rule?

0 Hi, 02br
00this is the problem: in negative sentences we usually use any + plural noun. I don't have any sisters (not "any sister", at least in common contexts). I was pretty confident, but look:02br
02br
01b01i00I didn't find that idiom in any 01u00dictionary02u00. 02i02b02br
02br
00Is it dictionary or dictionaries? If it's dictionary, then it's not true that we should always use 01u00any + plural noun02u00 in negative senteces... maybe we should use 01u00any + plural02u00 only when 01u00any + plural noun02u00 is the object of the verb? I'm pretty confused now...02br
02br
00Thanks 050010id1
  

Top answer

0Hi Kooyeen02br 02br 00To me you'd use the singular to stress the idea "not one single one, no matter which". 02i 0-

— Yankee

  • 0Hi Kooyeen02br 02br 00To me you'd use the singular to stress the idea "not one single one, no matter which".
  • 02i 0-
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8 Answers
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0Hi Kooyeen02br
02br
00To me you'd use the singular to stress the idea "not one single one, no matter which". That would be similar to the way 'any' is sometimes used in positive sentences:02br
02br
01i00You can find that word in any dictionary (no matter which one you look it up in).02i0-
0
0
0 Thank you Yankee.02br
00I think I understand, but, to put it another way, what confuses me is this difference:02br
01ul
    01li
  • 00I searched the net, but I didn't find any 01b01i00dictionaries.02i02b00 Can you recommend some?02li
    • 01li
  • 00I looked up that idiom, but I didn't find it in any 01b01
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0 01blockquote
00it's not true that we should always use 11u10any + plural noun12u10 in negative senteces... maybe we should use 11u10any + plural12u10 only when 11u10any + plural noun12u10 is the object of the verb? I'm pretty confused now...12blockquote
10Join the (confused) club! I t
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0Uh! I see I found out some confusing stuff for real then! 05002br
02br
00Well, if my "rule" works, I should be fine. And sentences like this one should be fine too:02br
02br
01b01i00If I won't shoot at any soldier, I won't kill any soldiers.02br
02br
02i02b00I just wonder if any other form of that sente
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10Hi, 12br
10this is the problem: in negative sentences we usually use any + plural noun. I don't have any sisters (not "any sister", at least in common contexts). I was pretty confident, but look:12br
12br
11b11i10I didn't find that idiom in any 11u10dictionar
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10Uh! I see I found out some confusing stuff for real then! 15012br
12br
10Well, if my "rule" works, I should be fine. And sentences like this one should be fine too:12br
12br
11b11i10If I won't shoot at any soldier, I won't kill any soldiers.12br
12
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0
0 01blockquote
01b11i10If I won't shoot at any soldier, I won't kill any soldiers.12i12b12blockquote
10Just my point. In both cases I would use the plural because both are complements, not adjuncts. That's why I said complement rather than object. 01i00shoot at02i00 is a prepositional verb with comp
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0 Thank you very much, Jim and Yankee.01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite11blockquote
11b21i20If I won't shoot at any soldier, I won't kill any soldiers.22i22b22blockquote
20Just my point. In both cases I would use the plural because both are complements, not adjuncts. That's why I sa
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